Stacey Snider, the current chief-executive-officer of 20th Century Fox talked a little about the future of the Alien franchise in a new interview with Variety. While the interview covers a large range of topics, interviewer Brent Lang pointed out the disappointment over Alien: Covenant’s box office takings and asked if the franchise was now over. In response, Snider told him:

“It was a disappointment, but I trust Ridley [Scott] and Emma [Watts] to know the right story when they find it. When universes are as rich as “Alien,” they can stay in a too familiar groove — in which case you’re in trouble — but they can also find a planet or a storyline or a villain that also lives in that universe that can be groundbreaking.”

Stacey Snider, the current chief-executive-officer of 20th Century Fox talked a little about the future of the Alien franchise in a new interview with Variety.

Talking about the situation and potential future films, Fred Baron recently told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It got great reviews and was everything we set out for it to be, it just didn’t hit the note at the box office. It will be a profitable film for the studio but whether there’s another one [is uncertain].”

I believe Fassbender is doing the rounds for The Snowman so might be worth keeping an eye on his interviews.

Couple out on Youtube.Listening to one now: Michael Fassbender interview - Talk "The Snowman" by TORYmaxSays he just finished X-Men and is taking the rest of the year off. Nothing about a Covenant or a possible sequel.

I don't think he will do another Alien movie. Covenant was box office disappointment and now 2049 (Scott Free produced it). I think Ridley's got enough of Sci-Fi for now. He wants to do The Cartel, WWII movie and he always wanted to make western (Wraiths of the Broken Land?) and pirate movie. With Ridley everything changes so quickly. He's got plenty of ideas and is involved in many projects. Who knows but I claim that he won't make it as a director. He may produce it.

Who knows?. Ridley Scott works so fast that he could be directing 5 or 6 big movies before he retires.

I believe Fassbender is doing the rounds for The Snowman so might be worth keeping an eye on his interviews.

Couple out on Youtube.Listening to one now: Michael Fassbender interview - Talk "The Snowman" by TORYmaxSays he just finished X-Men and is taking the rest of the year off. Nothing about a Covenant or a possible sequel.

I must admit I'm curious to hear how the BO reaction to Blade Runner changes his perspective on future scifi. Didn't he make a comment on having more BR films he wanted to do too?

Yeah, he wanted to produce several Blade Runner sequels:

Quote

"And yet Scott, according to a new interview, clearly does now see franchise potential in his beloved dystopian noir about a bounty hunter charged with bringing down a gang of escaped artificial humanoids named replicants. “Everyone else is, so why not? I love to work,” he told Yahoo! cheerfully when asked this week if Blade Runner might follow Alien and Prometheus into multiple-movie territory. “The French say, ‘Work to live,’ and I live to work. I’m very lucky to have a job that I adore.”https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/oct/02/ridley-scott-blade-runner-franchise-harrison-ford-ryan-gosling

“It helps evolve original scripts of movies,” Scott said. “It’s sort of cheating. It fills in the gaps where the narrator doesn’t have to worry about the genesis of the narrative. You could rely possibly on these short films and other assets that roll a few weeks before the main event to do that part of the storytelling for the director.”

“It is a revolution and I think this particular film [Blade Runner 2049] and the next one coming up,” Scott said, “I think they are not only a great way of marketing these kinds of movies, it fills in the gaps and gives more background on a character.”

I don't think he will do another Alien movie. Covenant was box office disappointment and now 2049 (Scott Free produced it). I think Ridley's got enough of Sci-Fi for now. He wants to do The Cartel, WWII movie and he always wanted to make western (Wraiths of the Broken Land?) and pirate movie. With Ridley everything changes so quickly. He's got plenty of ideas and is involved in many projects. Who knows but I claim that he won't make it as a director. He may produce it.

I have no doubt both Paglen and Green's drafts will get out at some point. I'm also curious on what Dante Harper's version is like (though probably similar to the final film, being that he shares screenplay credit with Logan).

My guess forParadise, the movie they skipped.David and Shaw arrive, get involved in conflict between good and evil Engineers, movie ends with David destroying Engineers.

CovenantSimilar to what we got but the first part would be shorter. Less time on the ship and problems occure faster after landing.More time spend on David and his gallery (bigger in early draft) and on his secret room with Shaw drawings and experiments (also in early draft).Perhaps Advent style flashback once David gets busted, actually showing what happened to Shaw. David unleashes his creatures (shown in concept art).From here everything else might have been the same or similar.

I've always been curious why xenos consider synthetic biology off the menu? I prefer real hamburger, but I would eat a tofu burger if I was hungry enough.

Not a fitting analogy I suppose to what seems a redundant question considering no cinema source explaining why xenos turn their nose up to a synthetic food/host source.

In earlier drafts of Prometheus and Covenant there's mention of how the eggs/facehuggers react to the breath of natural biological living beings.Leeches do something similar in real life. If they feel warm, moist air they move in its direction.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

There's a chance though we are over thinking this and Awakening will be an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship.

With the budget issues a sequel will grapple with, an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship is likely. And Im thinking Ridley Scott is not a great ACTION director. He is better with style and slow-burn. Look at his best SCI FI works. Even The Martian is a slow burn. Blade Runner, Alien, etc. That's what he should be doing. That's not too mention that I feel both Prequels are missing the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first few films. I think that a smaller, contained, suspense heavy film is a great idea.

I agree, I wouldn't mind Scott just hanging back a bit, picking up 4-5 good quality actors, put and Alien in it, See what you can pull off. Screw the naysayers about same old, I'd like to see him do a smaller budget horror again, I don't need anymore space goo or Engineers.

I wouldnt be in favor of not completing the story. This franchise is a mess precisely for that reason IMO. But something stripped down and simple sounds like a plan to me. And as the above poster says "High concept."

would be nice to have the early drafts of the scripts leak already for back when the movie was "Paradise" and a true Prometheus sequel. May give some insight to where we wind up going in the long run. Covenant was FULL of scrapped ideas from Prometheus... the early versions of the script before the huge change over may help shed light.

I've always been curious why xenos consider synthetic biology off the menu? I prefer real hamburger, but I would eat a tofu burger if I was hungry enough.

Not a fitting analogy I suppose to what seems a redundant question considering no cinema source explaining why xenos turn their nose up to a synthetic food/host source.

In earlier drafts of Prometheus and Covenant there's mention of how the eggs/facehuggers react to the breath of natural biological living beings.Leeches do something similar in real life. If they feel warm, moist air they move in its direction.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

There's a chance though we are over thinking this and Awakening will be an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship.

With the budget issues a sequel will grapple with, an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship is likely. And Im thinking Ridley Scott is not a great ACTION director. He is better with style and slow-burn. Look at his best SCI FI works. Even The Martian is a slow burn. Blade Runner, Alien, etc. That's what he should be doing. That's not too mention that I feel both Prequels are missing the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first few films. I think that a smaller, contained, suspense heavy film is a great idea.

I agree, I wouldn't mind Scott just hanging back a bit, picking up 4-5 good quality actors, put and Alien in it, See what you can pull off. Screw the naysayers about same old, I'd like to see him do a smaller budget horror again, I don't need anymore space goo or Engineers.

I wouldnt be in favor of not completing the story. This franchise is a mess precisely for that reason IMO. But something stripped down and simple sounds like a plan to me. And as the above poster says "High concept."

I've always been curious why xenos consider synthetic biology off the menu? I prefer real hamburger, but I would eat a tofu burger if I was hungry enough.

Not a fitting analogy I suppose to what seems a redundant question considering no cinema source explaining why xenos turn their nose up to a synthetic food/host source.

In earlier drafts of Prometheus and Covenant there's mention of how the eggs/facehuggers react to the breath of natural biological living beings.Leeches do something similar in real life. If they feel warm, moist air they move in its direction.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

There's a chance though we are over thinking this and Awakening will be an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship.

With the budget issues a sequel will grapple with, an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship is likely. And Im thinking Ridley Scott is not a great ACTION director. He is better with style and slow-burn. Look at his best SCI FI works. Even The Martian is a slow burn. Blade Runner, Alien, etc. That's what he should be doing. That's not too mention that I feel both Prequels are missing the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first few films. I think that a smaller, contained, suspense heavy film is a great idea.

I agree, I wouldn't mind Scott just hanging back a bit, picking up 4-5 good quality actors, put and Alien in it, See what you can pull off. Screw the naysayers about same old, I'd like to see him do a smaller budget horror again, I don't need anymore space goo or Engineers.

Scott's plans for his prequel series changed several times already. He's just making this up as he goes along, and contradicting what he's said about the origin of the xeno in the past. He mentioned a plan about the films running parallel to the originals but that also changed with Covenant where the end goal is clearly getting to the original film and the derelict. Everyone involved with the film mentions this on the behind the scenes stuff for Covenant, the story is all leading to Ripley on the bridge of the Nostromo according to them.

I've always been curious why xenos consider synthetic biology off the menu? I prefer real hamburger, but I would eat a tofu burger if I was hungry enough.

Not a fitting analogy I suppose to what seems a redundant question considering no cinema source explaining why xenos turn their nose up to a synthetic food/host source.

In earlier drafts of Prometheus and Covenant there's mention of how the eggs/facehuggers react to the breath of natural biological living beings.Leeches do something similar in real life. If they feel warm, moist air they move in its direction.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

There's a chance though we are over thinking this and Awakening will be an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship.

With the budget issues a sequel will grapple with, an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship is likely. And Im thinking Ridley Scott is not a great ACTION director. He is better with style and slow-burn. Look at his best SCI FI works. Even The Martian is a slow burn. Blade Runner, Alien, etc. That's what he should be doing. That's not too mention that I feel both Prequels are missing the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first few films. I think that a smaller, contained, suspense heavy film is a great idea.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

If Scott insists on having David be a host (urgh), he'd need to have David actually become biological in some fashion or another for it to not be even more of a slap-in the face of the lore.

That said, I'm not sure David would do it intentionally given his disdain for his biological creators. Perhaps as an accident as a result of his experimentation with the accelerant. Maybe some sort of poetic justice type thing?

I'll buy into this stuff if it's explained or implied well in the story. If it's just another "because David did it ....check out this short on the Blu Ray" then yeah I'm not gona like it much.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

If Scott insists on having David be a host (urgh), he'd need to have David actually become biological in some fashion or another for it to not be even more of a slap-in the face of the lore.

That said, I'm not sure David would do it intentionally given his disdain for his biological creators. Perhaps as an accident as a result of his experimentation with the accelerant. Maybe some sort of poetic justice type thing?

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

There's a chance though we are over thinking this and Awakening will be an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship.

There's stuff in David writings about the Engineers about it:

"While the Engineers have definitely taken steps to evolve their genetic structure and durability they curiously maintain a strange deference to the sanctity of their original pre-technological state."

Perhaps he unknowingly infects himself during the upgrade process. With the black goo being unpredictable.

Awakening on a ship would be to plain. I think at least we'll get an Aliens type movie with Engineers inserted.Or a sweet full blown spectacle conclusion of sorts. That's more of wish than a guess.

I've always been curious why xenos consider synthetic biology off the menu? I prefer real hamburger, but I would eat a tofu burger if I was hungry enough.

Not a fitting analogy I suppose to what seems a redundant question considering no cinema source explaining why xenos turn their nose up to a synthetic food/host source.

In earlier drafts of Prometheus and Covenant there's mention of how the eggs/facehuggers react to the breath of natural biological living beings.Leeches do something similar in real life. If they feel warm, moist air they move in its direction.

Usually don't agree with your whacky theories! But.... David somehow trying to make himself more human would slightly fit with the themes of the movies. I could actually see that being a possibility and kind of freaky at the same time. The whole Pinocchio becoming a real boy theme.

There's a chance though we are over thinking this and Awakening will be an Alien chasing 6 people around a ship.

I've always been curious why xenos consider synthetic biology off the menu? I prefer real hamburger, but I would eat a tofu burger if I was hungry enough.

Not a fitting analogy I suppose to what seems a redundant question considering no cinema source explaining why xenos turn their nose up to a synthetic food/host source.

In earlier drafts of Prometheus and Covenant there's mention of how the eggs/facehuggers react to the breath of natural biological living beings.Leeches do something similar in real life. If they feel warm, moist air they move in its direction.

Face hugged robots bust up too many established rules. I'm still unsure if Ridley is deliberately swerving the biomechanics because of preference or plot.

The Covenant xeno isn't different enough for me for it to be plot.

Based on statements from the filmmakers about the Alien being out of anyone's control, engineers discovering a decimated homeworld, and deliberately toning down the biomechanical aesthetic because they're working towards it in the next installment, I'd guess the idea was to bring back engineers suited up as they were in Prometheus for the final touches to the Alien. It won't be David's doing.

Where's the quote about working towards it.

From Chris Seagers, production designer on Covenant:

Quote

The aesthetic choices aren’t just superficial, they tie into the larger story. “Technically, we’re slightly earlier than the Giger stuff, a little bit,” Seagers explained. “We’re sort of edging into that. That’s part of that whole storyline.”

Interesting. So the choice is based on plot it seems. I'm not sure if that makes me happy or worried. I guess we can presume then that David does "upgrade" the Alien somehow. Unless the eggs on the original Derilict are laid after he's dead.

It could be a case that the ship is actually empty at the time of the Space Jockey chest burst then filled by that Queen.

Face hugged robots bust up too many established rules. I'm still unsure if Ridley is deliberately swerving the biomechanics because of preference or plot.

The Covenant xeno isn't different enough for me for it to be plot.

Based on statements from the filmmakers about the Alien being out of anyone's control, engineers discovering a decimated homeworld, and deliberately toning down the biomechanical aesthetic because they're working towards it in the next installment, I'd guess the idea was to bring back engineers suited up as they were in Prometheus for the final touches to the Alien. It won't be David's doing.

Where's the quote about working towards it.

From Chris Seagers, production designer on Covenant:

Quote

The aesthetic choices aren’t just superficial, they tie into the larger story. “Technically, we’re slightly earlier than the Giger stuff, a little bit,” Seagers explained. “We’re sort of edging into that. That’s part of that whole storyline.”

Face hugged robots bust up too many established rules. I'm still unsure if Ridley is deliberately swerving the biomechanics because of preference or plot.

The Covenant xeno isn't different enough for me for it to be plot.

Based on statements from the filmmakers about the Alien being out of anyone's control, engineers discovering a decimated homeworld, and deliberately toning down the biomechanical aesthetic because they're working towards it in the next installment, I'd guess the idea was to bring back engineers suited up as they were in Prometheus for the final touches to the Alien. It won't be David's doing.

Face hugged robots bust up too many established rules. I'm still unsure if Ridley is deliberately swerving the biomechanics because of preference or plot.

The Covenant xeno isn't different enough for me for it to be plot.

Based on statements from the filmmakers about the Alien being out of anyone's control, engineers discovering a decimated homeworld, and deliberately toning down the biomechanical aesthetic because they're working towards it in the next installment, I'd guess the idea was to bring back engineers suited up as they were in Prometheus for the final touches to the Alien. It won't be David's doing.

I have a gut feeling that we'll hear about it soon. And I also think that they'll tie this next one into the back end of Alien, because A) it will be the 40th anniversary of the first one and will have the original director. Marketing departments love stuff like that, because it's so easy to promote. And B) they're probably re-releasing the original in 2019, because, again, the 40th anniversary. So it will all tie together. I doubt they'll pass up that kind of promotion.

...and Ridley will tell us the new film is going to "scare the living shit out of you."

I have a gut feeling that we'll hear about it soon. And I also think that they'll tie this next one into the back end of Alien, because A) it will be the 40th anniversary of the first one and will have the original director. Marketing departments love stuff like that, because it's so easy to promote. And B) they're probably re-releasing the original in 2019, because, again, the 40th anniversary. So it will all tie together. I doubt they'll pass up that kind of promotion.

Again... If David is the dude who made the Aliens Bio-mechanical later on.. And He Already made the first batch of Alien Eggs without a Queen or Xenomorhph Present. And the dude loves playing God.. Who's to say he doesn't "Engineer" a Specific Face-Hugger to go after Robot(s) Such as himself? Or intentionally impregnates himself to be the "God" of the newer Generation of Bio-mechanical Xenomorphs?

So why didn't he do it already? He could survive the chestbursting and repair himself ad nauseum without ever waiting for human hosts.

Again... If David is the dude who made the Aliens Bio-mechanical later on.. And He Already made the first batch of Alien Eggs without a Queen or Xenomorhph Present. And the dude loves playing God.. Who's to say he doesn't "Engineer" a Specific Face-Hugger to go after Robot(s) Such as himself? Or intentionally impregnates himself to be the "God" of the newer Generation of Bio-mechanical Xenomorphs?

Covenant pretty much told us that David is the one who started the whole Egg thing. So the Eggs in the Derelict at this point are a product of David's invention. Without a Queen or Drone Present for Egg Morphing.. And we have a Mini-XenoMorpth that can grow and dance into a full Alien within Minutes it seems..

But we'll see how they Handle with "Crossing of the Bridge" To Alien. Because we still have a Space Jockey? In the Derelict with a Cargo full of Eggs. And a Science Officer who was Replaced by Ash Two days before Nostromo left Thedus.. How the Prequels connect to Alien is still wideeeeee open plot wise.

I think Ridley had an idea where he wanted it to go (rather than having a plan fully mapped out) and probably shared this with various writers. However, Fox was also trying to cater to a section of the audience who wanted the Aliens back, and thought they could have the best of both worlds.

I believe Ridley said something about having a road map planned out so he obviously has some idea of where he wants it to go. But then they apparently also discussed sequels while Prometheus was filming and we all know how that changed. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Covenant also faces similar rethinking, especially in light of the "when he finds the right story" comment from Snider.